Khaudum National Park is not for the feint-hearted. It’s an off-the-beaten-track adventure into the wilds. This East Kavango gem, bordering Botswana, is one of the last few places where you can still experience wild Africa. With rudimentary tourist structures, sandy 4x4 tracks and few visitors, it’s reserved for those (well-equipped and self-sufficient) adventurous travellers.
Khaudum was first proclaimed as Khaudum Nature Reserve in 1989, becoming a national park in 2007. The 3842km² Park is the only conservation area in Namibia where the Northern Kalahari Sandveld biome is protected. It is a medley of forest savannah and thick Kalahari woodland – interspersed with omurambas (temporary pans) and flat clay pans.
© Gondwana Collection
One of the highlights of a visit to Khaudum is to watch wildlife from the hides provided at some of the waterholes. And, wildlife there is. Khaudum is home to large herds of elephant, a flourishing leopard population, lion, giraffe, spotted hyena and black-backed and side-striped jackal. It also has a rich variety of antelope species: blue wildebeest, kudu, steenbok and gemsbok, and reedbuck, eland, hartebeest and tsessebe in the central areas. An important conservation area, this is where you have the opportunity to encounter the rarer animals like roan antelope and if fortunate, the endangered African wild dog.
Animals in Khaudum are free to follow their natural and ancient migratory routes, linking the countries of Namibia, Angola and Botswana. Adopting an open-park system, the Park is unfenced except for a 55km section along its western edge and its border with Botswana, in the east. This enables animals like elephant to use their hereditary migratory routes to move to and from water sources in the Okavango River and its floodplains, and the Okavango Delta, 150km away.
© Gondwana Collection
Approximately 320 bird species have been recorded in Khaudum, including Bradfield’s hornbills, black-faced babblers, sharp-tailed starlings, rufous-bellied tits and coppery-tailed and Senegal coucals.
Travelling is slow and vehicles need to be permanently engaged in 4x4, negotiating the deep and loose sand on the two-track roads that weave through the Park, linking waterholes and omurambas.
© Gondwana Collection
There are two main ways to enter and leave Khaudum National Park, via Tsumkwe in the south and the Katere road in the north. There are no fuel stations in the Park, so fill up enough jerry cans to happily see you through your wilderness journey.
Groups travelling in the park must comprise at least two vehicles, preferably more. Visitors must be self-sufficient and carry enough food, fuel and water for the duration of their stay. The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism recommends that each vehicle has provisions for three days and carries 100 litres of water for each day.
© Gondwana Collection
There are more than 10 artificial waterholes and two natural fountains in the Park.
The African wild dog is the most endangered large predator in Africa.
The closest fuel stations are at Grootfontein, Tsumkwe (only diesel and leaded petrol), Rundu and Divundu, all a fair distance away.
Remove all your rubbish.
Stay on the designated tracks.
Keep your distance from elephants and give them the right of way.
Exult in true wilderness.
Author: Ron Swilling
Do you feel like exploring Khaudum National Park?
Contact the Gondwana Travel Centre to plan your trip.